FDA takes effort to curb antibiotics in livestock on the road

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is partnering with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to hold meetings in five states nationwide in an effort to formulate a rule that curbs antibiotic use in livestock used as food.

Last year, the FDA proposed to require a veterinary prescription for any antibiotic in animals that would become food, and is reaching out to the industry, the public and local communities about the challenges that those regulations may impose.

In an earlier study, the FDA found that 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are used on animals. Penicillin and other drugs are often mixed into food or water to prevent cows, chicken, pigs and other livestock from getting sick in crowded pens.

Concerns have been arising for more than a decade that an increased use of these medications could have serious consequences.

The FDA issued “voluntary guidelines” for the industry last year, warning them that “non-judicious” – or non-medical – use of antibiotics could cause drug-resistant diseases in animals, which could be passed on to the humans who eat them.

Livestock producers can currently buy these drugs over-the-counter, which the agriculture agency claims is needed in this modern food-producing environment.

In a Federal Register announcement that will be published on Thursday, the agency says that changing these regulations has “practical implications for animal producers.”

The meetings – which will be held in Bowling Green, Ky., Olympia, Wash., Fort Collins, Colo., Pierre, S.D., and College Station, Texas – will also focus on how to make it easier for smaller or more rural livestock producers to comply with the regulations. Click here to see more about the meetings, dates and times.

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